Staff warned against fake dengue reports

Provincial Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique gave a final warning to officers to stop falsely reporting dengue prevention activities. The Minister issued these directives while chairing a meeting of Provincial Dengue Monitoring Committee at the Civil Secretariat.

Provincial Minister Rafique and Chief Secretary Punjab Kamran Ali Afzal reviewed anti-dengue activities during the meeting.

The meeting was attended by secretaries of various departments and all commissioners and deputy commissioners.

All secretaries submitted detailed reports to the provincial minister and chief secretary regarding anti-dengue activities. Health Secretary Ali Jan Khan, Additional IG Special Branch and Chairman PITB additionally presented performance reports of all the districts regarding dengue prevention activities.

Rafique said at the meeting that dengue in Punjab is being monitored continuously and all departments have to play their role in controlling dengue. He appealed to the public to strictly adopt precautionary measures against dengue.

He also said complaints of false reporting of dengue prevention activities are intolerable and the responsibility for cleanliness in field offices lies with the concerned departments.

Along with dengue, we have to defeat coronavirus by making sure to use masks, the minister added.

Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal directed the departments to improve their performance regarding dengue, stating that the increase in reported dengue cases this year is a cause for concern.

Departments were urged to ensure implementation of SOPs related to dengue and negligence would not be acceptable in this regard.

Government departments, and civil society must all work together to control dengue, with negligence spelling failure. Action should be taken against the officials who are misreporting anti-dengue activities, the minister directed.

The Chief Secretary also directed officers to mandate wearing of masks, social distancing and enforcement of other precautionary measures in view of the increase in coronavirus cases.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2022.